How BrownTogether transformed Brown’s campus

Many of the new and revitalized spaces constructed during BrownTogether are equipped with cutting-edge technology or built with world-class design to meet the unique needs of our teaching and learning community.

“Our campus really does reflect the spirit of innovation,” says Craig Barton ’78, University architect and professor of the practice in history of art and architecture. “I think you see that in the quality of the buildings and landscapes that push design boundaries.”

Nowhere is this more apparent than with The Lindemann Performing Arts Center. Opened in 2023, The Lindemann is one of the most technologically advanced art facilities in the world–designed to be a flexible building that fuels expression and experimentation. The Lindemann has an ongoing busy calendar of events, including hosting the 21st Century Orchestra festival in 2024, which included a performance by the Grammy Award-winning Boston Modern Orchestra Project.

The Lindemann is part of the Perelman Arts District, which was established in 2023 to showcase spaces dedicated to research, teaching, and training in the arts.

Another venue that’s part of the Perelman Arts District is the Rites and Reason Theatre—one of the oldest Black theater companies in the country—which is located inside Churchill House along with Brown’s Africana Studies department. Churchill House was recently renovated and expanded, marking a new era for the building that has been an important nexus for scholarship and performance related to the culture, politics, and history of the African diaspora for over half a century. 

New centers that accelerate groundbreaking research and scholarship 

Another state-of-the-art facility made possible by BrownTogether is the Engineering Research Center, which opened its doors in 2017. The center boasts an impressive footprint—it’s 80,000-square-feet nestled in busy College Hill, adjacent to the applied math, physics, chemistry, and computer science departments. Inside, it has open-plan collaborative spaces that foster creativity, two full floors of lab space designed to expand research in areas like renewable energy and environmental engineering, and a clean room for nanotechnology. But the features that make the Engineering Research Center truly a high-tech marvel are invisible—like its abilities to actively cancel stray electromagnetic fields and limit the vibrations from street traffic, both of which can interfere with sensitive lab equipment. 

While research is underway on the upper floors, the expansive common area of the center has become a place of community. There’s a cafe—something students requested for long days in the lab—and enough space for large events. Engineering students have created new traditions here, from their annual winter formal to an earthquake-proof gingerbread competition.

One of the biggest building projects still underway is the William A. and Ami Kuan Danoff Life Sciences Laboratories—an integrated life sciences research facility that is expected to open in 2026 near Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School. The seven-story Danoff Laboratories will be the largest academic laboratory building in Rhode Island. And as part of Brown’s commitment to sustainability, Danoff Laboratories will be powered 100% by renewable electricity, with emergency backup. It will stand as one of the first net-zero lab constructions in New England. 

“We're all excited about Danoff Laboratories,” says Barton. “It's going to be the largest building the University has undertaken in its history. It’s a wonderfully complex and well-designed building in which there will be a number of beautiful public spaces.”

Danoff Laboratories will create a dynamic environment for groundbreaking research in aging, immunity, environmental oncology, brain science, and more. It will be a home base for Brown’s integrated biomedical ecosystem—with biologists, physicians, engineers, computational scientists, entrepreneurs, and students all working together to tackle daunting health challenges. As a result, Brown will be able to seamlessly translate research into real-world solutions for patients and communities. 

Improving the student-athlete experience

Campaign support helped build or remodel several athletics facilities and advance Brown’s priorities for health and well-being. Meehan Auditorium underwent extensive renovations, bringing it up to par with the most professional hockey venues around. There were campaign-supported upgrades to the Berylson Family Football Complex and Marston Boathouse, and the Richard Gouse Field at Brown Stadium was upgraded from natural grass to synthetic turf, a better surface for winning Ivy League championships.

A new centralized Center for Lacrosse and Soccer at Stevenson-Pincince Field—with its modern amenities for players and a grandstand for 1,250 spectators—is a premier facility designed to attract top student-athletes and allow them to play at the highest level of competition. And more improvements are on the horizon—in 2026, the Indoor Turf Facility, a 76,000-square-foot space, will open, providing a controlled environment for year-round practice, training, and recreation. With 92% of Brown undergraduates involved in athletics or recreation, the Indoor Turf Facility will provide much-needed space for not only varsity players, but also those in club or intramural sports, as well as students involved in fitness activities like kickball, flag football, ultimate frisbee, and more.

Brown faculty and students are collaborating every day on big ideas and disruptive ventures that have a real impact on the world. The BrownTogether campaign enabled the University to build or renovate many campus spaces that serve as dedicated centers or hubs for this kind of interdisciplinary work.

The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs significantly expanded its footprint with the opening of Stephen Robert ’62 Hall in 2018. The facility provides the institute with an additional 31,000 square feet of collaborative study space for its growing community of scholars working to address global policy challenges. 

Ed Steinfeld, professor and director of the Watson Institute from 2016-2024, saw first-hand the impact the new space has on students. “I really feel that the physical building that we’re in right now is allowing our students to dream big—and not just dream big, but to develop the skills and capabilities to go out and change the world.” 

Over on bustling Thayer Street, the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship got its own dedicated home in 2019, becoming the first physical hub for Brown’s vibrant community of entrepreneurs. The brand new building has three floors of flexible, co-working space—and endless whiteboards—designed to encourage the “accidental collisions” between students that lead to new ideas. Inside Nelson, entrepreneurship isn’t just about launching businesses—it’s about problem solving. Students work with faculty, Entrepreneurs in Residence mentors, and each other to design solutions to complex problems. Since its opening, the Nelson Center has helped many student entrepreneurs become founders through its year-round programming—including the summer accelerator Breakthrough Lab, which in 2024 alone helped develop 11 ambitious student-led ventures.

With the generosity of BrownTogether donors, Brown was able to enhance the spaces where students learn, live, and build community—making the campus a more accessible and welcoming place for students.

One academic building that was significantly updated is Friedman Hall—the iconic 1891 building on the College Green formerly named Wilson Hall. Renovations included making the historic building fully accessible for students with physical disabilities and modernizing the interior. Now, to the delight of many undergraduate students who frequent the building for classes, Friedman Hall has seven spacious, sunny classrooms, including some large enough to accommodate over 50 students. 

Brown also opened the first newly constructed residence halls in 30 years. On Brook Street, two new dorms welcomed students in fall 2023 — the Chen Family and William and Ami Danoff residence halls. These living spaces for sophomores, juniors, and seniors were designed with their needs in mind, offering a balance of private space and shared community areas. The dorms are fully electric buildings, giving them a smaller carbon footprint.

And in an innovative move to better support students’ well-being, Brown opened another new residence hall that’s integrated with a health services hub—the Sternlicht Commons and Brown University Health & Wellness Center. Recognizing that physical, mental, and emotional well-being is crucial for academic success, the building includes health services, counseling and psychological services, emergency medical services, and BWell, the University's health promotion program—all serving all students on campus.

Focusing on belonging and inclusion

A crucial part of cultivating a positive student experience is ensuring all students, no matter their background, feel at home on campus. BrownTogether supported the development of new centers that are dedicated to welcoming all students and by adding more inclusive offerings to existing sites, like the new kosher, halal, and allergen-aware dining hall spaces.

In 2016, Brown opened the Undocumented, First-Generation College and Low-Income Student (U-FLi) Center. This center—the first of its kind in the country—provides support, resources, and programming to help students thrive. And a new home for the Office of Military-Affiliated Students (OMAS) was opened in 2024, offering support services and space for studying, meetings, and socializing to military veterans—a fast-growing community at Brown thanks to an initiative launched in 2019 to double the number of U.S. military veterans enrolled as undergraduates.

Brown also expanded its LGBTQ Center with a move in 2022 to a new and improved location known as the Stonewall House, which serves as a community space and a home for academic collaboration. In its larger space, it’s now equipped to run its own flagship programs, including hosting guest speakers, holding workshops, and providing increased opportunities for students to study, meet, and connect.

Even though the BrownTogether campaign has come to a close, its impact on campus development continues. 

There are several projects in the works, like the renovation of innovative facilities within the School of Engineering. And across the river in the Jewelry District, in addition to the Danoff Laboratories project, Brown plans to establish new partnerships with area industry, including an agreement with Rhode Island Life Sciences Hub to provide space to Ocean State Labs, a startup life sciences incubator. 

Brown’s campus will continue to expand and evolve to meet the needs of students and faculty in their pursuits of academics, research, innovation, athletics, arts—and everything else that makes Brown a place of excellence. 

Rooted in a rich history, Brown is now poised for a future of enduring, world-changing impact thanks to the generosity of BrownTogether donors.